Whether you are learning how to do DIY online marketing, or you are a business owner who simply wants to comprehend how to read your website analytics, or to understand what the heck it is your online marketing team is talking about—then there are a few terms you need to know. Once you learn what these terms are you will be able to gauge your progress and overall return on investment. Every website analysis SEO tool is unique, but is likely to include the following.
Keywords And Keyword Mix
Keywords are a series of words used within the text of each web page, blog post, landing, page, heading, or online ad. Keywords will be industry or niche-specific, and are likely to vary from one page or post to the next. Some will also include your geographic target area such as your city or state. The process of selecting keywords is complex, as your marketing expert must find a relevant series of keywords that is related to your industry, not too competitive, and that enough of your target audience types in to search engines to drive organic traffic.
Your keyword mix refers to how many times, or the percentage rate, of the keywords you are tracking is found within each page, post, or throughout your entire website. Higher is not better, as “keyword stuffing” will damage your search engine standings. Instead, keep the saturation low and the variety of keywords high.
What's Your SEO Score?
Enter the URL of any landing page or blog article and see how optimized it is for one keyword or phrase.
Inbound And Outbound Links
Backlinks are relevant links placed within each blog post or website page. There are two types of links: inbound and outbound OR internal and external. Inbound links refer to links that direct a user to other pages on your website—such as your Contact Us page. Outbound links refer to links that direct to URLs other than your own, such as the official source or of the statistic quoted in your blog post. The goal is not to link for the sake of creating more links, as all backlinks must be high-quality and relevant.
Your website analysis SEO tool may also measure your social media inbound and outbound links. This will include how often others link to and from your website, as well as how often you link to your social media in your posts. Adding a plugin that enables users to easily like, comment, or share will help with your social media link structure.
Click Through Rate (CTR)
When you invest in online ads that direct back to your website, you must measure your CTR—which is the number of people who view your ad who actually click on it.
Bounce Rate
It is exciting when you see how much your website traffic increases over time, but in addition to the number of new followers you gain—you must also measure your bounce rate. This is the number of visitors who visit your website and leave. For example, a blog post may show up in Google search results. If a visitor only reads the one blog and then leaves your website—then they “bounce”. The lower your bounce rate the better. Also, look for how long each website visitor stays on your page.
These are some of the basics you need to know when reading your website analysis SEO tool results.